TRENT REZNOR Slams 'Dopey Clown' MARILYN MANSON

Trent Reznor is pulling no punches as of late, with the Nine Inch Nails mastermind taking swipes at Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, Prince and Chris Cornell. But in a new interview in Mojo, Reznor saves his sharpest venom for one-time protege, Marilyn Manson. "He is a malicious guy and will step on anybody's face to succeed and cross any line of decency," Reznor says. "Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he's become a dopey clown."



While Reznor does have some kind words to say about Manson, saying, "He used to be the smartest guy in the room. And as a fan of his talents, I hope he gets his s--- together," the disdain is evident. In the interview, Reznor says the feud dates back down to the 'Downward Spiral' tour in '94 and '95. "During the Spiral tour we propped them up to get our audience turned on to them and at that time a lot of the people in my circle were pretty far down the road as alcoholics. Not Manson. His drive for success and self-preservation was so high, he pretended to be f---ed up a lot when he wasn't."

Still, Reznor accepts a some responsibility for the bad blood, sorta. "Things got s----y between us and I'm not blameless. The majority of it though was coming from a resentment guy who finally got out from under the master's umbrella and was able to stab him in the back."

And before you say it, Reznor recently proclaimed his own doucheness: "I might be happy and engaged, but I'm still a prick."